SUMBAWA (Dutch Soembawa)

This article appears in Volume V26, Page 75 of the Encyclopedia Britannica.

Encyclopedia Britannica - Main :: STE-SUS

SUMBAWA (Dutch Soembawa) , one of the Little Sunda islands in the Dutch

East

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

Indies,

east

EAST
EAST, ALFRED (1849- )

of Lombok, from which it is separated by the narrow Alas Strait. It has an area of 4300 sq. m., or, including the neighbouring islands, 5240 sq. M. The deep bay of Sale or Sumbawa on the north divides the island into two peninsulas, and the isthmus is further reduced by the narrower Bay of Chempi on the

south

SOUTH
SOUTH, ROBERT (1634–1716)

. The eastern peninsula is deeply indented on. the north by the Bay of Bima. Four mountain chains cross the island in a west to east direction. The northern, as in

Bali

BALI

and Lombok, is of volcanic origin, Tambora, forming a

minor

peninsula east of Sumbawa Bay, is said to have lost a third of its

elevation

ELEVATION

in the eruption of 1815, but is still 9055 ft. high. In the southern chain is found a limestone formation analogous to that in

Bali

BALI

, Lombok and Java. Between these two chains are round hills consisting of lavas or sometimes of volcanic tuffs, covered with the long silvery grass which also clothes vast prairies in Java and Sumatra. There are no navigable streams. The climate and productions are not unlike those of Java, though the rains are heavier, the drought more severe, and the fertility less.

Sulphur

SULPHUR

, arsenic, asphalt and petroleum exist. The natives live solely by agriculture. But out of a total population of about 75,00o there are s s,000 foreigners, living mostly by trade and navigation. The natives consist of Sumbawans proper, a people of Malayan stock; of Buginese and Macassar immigrants, and of wild tribes of the mountains of whom nothing is known. Mahommedanism prevails throughout the island, except among the mountain tribes.
Politically Sumbawa, with its four independent states, belongs to the confederated states of the government of Celebes and its dependencies, a situation to be explained by the fact of the old supremacy of the Macassaresi over Sumbawa, Flores and Sumba. The independent states are Sumbawa proper, Dompo, Sangar and Bima. Two other states on the northern extremity of the island were so far devastated by the Tambora eruption of 1815 that their territory, after lying for long uninhabited, was in 1866 divided between Dompo and Sangar. Sumbawa proper occupies the western peninsula. The residence of the sultan is Sumbawa on the north

coast

COAST (from Lat. costa, a rib, side)

. It is surrounded with a palisade and ditches. The inhabitants of this state employ sometimes the Malay and sometimes the Macassar character in writing. A considerable trade is carried on in the export of horses, buffaloes, goats, dinding (dried flesh), skins, birds' nests, wax,

rice

, katyang, sappanwood, &c. Sumbawa entered into treaty relations with the Dutch East India Company in 1674. Dompo is the western half of the eastern peninsula. The

capital

CAPITAL (i.e. capital stock or fund)
CAPITAL (Lat. caput, head)

of the state, Dompo, lies in the heart of the country, on a stream that falls into Chempi Bay. Bada, the sultan's residence, is farther west. Sangar occupies the north-western promontory of the island, and Bima the extreme east. Bima or Bodjo, the

chief

CHIEF (from Fr. chef, head, Lat. caput)

town of the latter state, lies on the east side of the Bay of Bima; it has a stone-walled palace and a mosque, as well as a Dutch fort.
See Zollinger, " Soembawa," in Verhandelingen van het Batay. Genootschap, xxiii.; Ligtvoet, " Anteekeningen betreffende den economischen Toestand en de Ethnographie van Soembawa," in Tijdschr. Bat. Gen. xxiii.

End of Article: SUMBAWA (Dutch Soembawa)

If you wish, you can link directly to this article.

<a href="http://jcsm.org/StudyCenter/Encyclopedia/STE_SUS/SUMBAWA_Dutch_Soembawa_.html">
SUMBAWA (Dutch Soembawa)
</a>

(Previous)
SUMBA (TJENDANA, or SANDALWOOD)

(Next)
SUMBUL, or SUMBAL

JCSM was founded in 1997 and exists to help the community and bring people into a life-changing and productive relationship with Jesus Christ. JCSM offers over 200,000 free web pages, including its weekly inspirational emails that were sent continuously for over a decade.

Jesus Christ Saves Ministries
P.O. Box 9297
San Diego, CA 92169
1-888-887-0417 or Email